Just after today’s lunch break, the House took up Rep. Pete Nielsen’s motion to reconsider its earlier 35-35 tie vote to kill HB 413a, the Orofino “Maniacs” special license plate. Asked to debate his motion, Nielsen, R-Mountain Home, said, “Well, I was sitting here rethinking the issue, and I just felt like on that close of a vote maybe there should be a reconsideration, and I was able to do that. And I want to do that.”

The motion to reconsider then passed 35-30, with five House members absent. Then, the House proceeded to vote again on the bill, with no further debate. This time, it passed, 34-31. That moves the bill to the Senate side. Nielsen, who had voted “no” the first time around, voted “yes” this time. Also, four House members were absent for the afternoon vote.

The special license plate would benefit Orofino schools, where Orofino High School’s mascot is the Maniac. It was protested by people with mental illnesses and their advocates, who said it was demeaning to them; backers said the mascot has nothing to do with the state mental hospital located in Orofino, and is a “symbol of unbridled enthusiasm.”